NYRB roundup

Three works of fiction from NYRB. 

Fat City
Leonard Gardner

Set in gritty working-class Stockton in the 1950s, Fat City tells the tale of two boxers– one past his prime, the other aspiring– who are not quite good enough to make a living at it, but without any better options. Written in a hard-boiled poetic style, the depictions of the boxing matches are violent and vivid, but many of the best scenes are on the street, in a bar, car, or apartment, or out in the fields, where the protagonist Billy Tully occasionally puts in a grueling day of hoeing or picking to make ends meet.

To say the novel is a depiction of toxic, self-destructive masculinity would not do it justice, because both of the men want nothing more than love, and their relationships with the women in their lives are sometimes tender, if also confused, bitter, and ultimately failed or failing. A sad and beautiful little book.

Alfred and Guinevere
James Schuyler

"It may be I'll grow up more of a sportswoman type and wear tweeds a lot with matching saddle leather accessories. In that case I wouldn't wear jewels except a short string of pearls now and then and just lipstick. Don't you love tall pale women who walk very fast?"

"I think it's better to be more feminine and not look hard. What's your ambition?" 

"I'm not sure yet. It's important to give it a lot of thought and not make any serious mistake, don't you think?" 

"Oh very. Have you found out your aptitudes though? They're a good clue. Mine are for dancing and managerial. My first ambition is interpretive dancing—gypsy and light-classical—and my second is hotel management." 

That's Guinevere talking with her friend Betty. Alfred is Guinevere's younger brother. Schuyler never had children of his own, but this charming and funny 1958 novella– the poet's first book– captures their voices, inner life, and undercurrent of anxiety about what's up with Mother and Daddy. Lovely.

The Rider on the White Horse
Theodor Storm

I ordered this one because it was translated from the German by James Wright, the wonderful poet. The title novella is a kind of a ghost story, but mostly a tale about small-town politics, envy, and the very specialized business of dikes and dikemasters. Worth reading if you are into that sort of thing.